Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average (a) cost per adult and (b) length of stay was for an acute hospital bed day in the Suffolk and North East Essex integrated care system in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The average cost per adult for an acute hospital bed day by integrated care system, is not collected centrally by the Department. NHS England publishes a national cost collection which includes unit costs for non-elective inpatient stays. This data is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/costing-in-the-nhs/national-cost-collection/
The information on length of stay is not available in the format requested. NHS England publishes general and acute length of bed stay data, with data available at a trust level but not an integrated care system level. The trust level data is available at the following link:
Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking with OFGEM to reduce daily standing charges for gas and electricity in Suffolk.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
In November, Ofgem announced a review into standing charges, exploring how it is applied to energy bills and potential alternatives. The review had now closed and Ofgem is currently analysing the input it has received. Ofgem will publish its response in due course.
The variance in standing charge is mainly due to regional differences in energy distribution costs. These costs reflect the expenses of maintaining a live supply in a specific area, and the number of consumers those costs are spread across.
On 30 March, I wrote to Ofgem, highlighting the importance of keeping standing charges as low as possible.
Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of its plans to address water scarcity in Greater Cambridge on the water bills of Anglian Water customers in (a) Suffolk and (b) Suffolk Coastal constituency.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government is committed to supporting the growth of Greater Cambridge in a sustainable way, supporting its economic potential, protecting and enhancing the quality of life for residents, habitats and the environment.
At Spring Budget 2024, the government published a policy paper setting out its ambition to address water scarcity in Greater Cambridge. Customer water bills are set every five years by Ofwat through its ‘price review’ process which includes controlling the prices that companies can charge customers whilst allowing companies to finance improvements to their infrastructure.
Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to help increase business investment in Suffolk.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Department for Business and Trade works with local stakeholders to promote investment opportunities in the region to potential overseas investors and provide support for foreign investors wishing to set up in the area. The Government works closely with clients to understand their requirements and to reduce any barriers which may inform the client’s decision to locate in the region.
The Government is also backing the Freeport East to create new jobs and attract new businesses in high growth sectors such as advanced manufacturing and engineering.
The Government supports a range of programmes dedicated to supporting small and medium businesses to grow. This includes free access to the Business Support Helpline, Help to Grow, Growth Hubs, UK Export Academy, International Trade Advisors, and the Export Digital Enquiry Service. Government funded support is also available through the British Business Bank.
Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help maintain (a) Suffolk's coastline and (b) the cleanliness of bathing water.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is investing £5.6 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion, including around £1.3billion for defences along the coast. This investment includes a record £5.2 billion capital investment programme, a £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme (FCIP), £170 million for economic recovery from flooding and over £30 million of funding for flood incident management.
It is not always sustainable or affordable to defend every part of our coastline in the face of a changing climate which is enhancing the coastal erosion process. This is why we have allocated £36m over 6 years, for the ‘Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme’ (CTAP), as part of FCIP, to support communities in coastal areas at significant risk of erosion to adapt.
Coastal protection authorities are best placed to understand their coastline and to develop the most appropriate approaches to manage risk through Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) and their local planning policies. The Environment Agency (EA) work closely with Coastal Partnership East to monitor and deliver the Suffolk SMP to support the management of flooding and erosion on the Suffolk coast. This includes delivery by East Suffolk Council and partners of the FCIP ‘Resilient Coasts project as well as the recent completion of a £2.3 million project protecting Felixstowe Ferry. The EA are supporting the East Suffolk Water Management Board to deliver the £12.2 million Upper Alde and Ore Estuary Project, which will protect Snape and Aldeburgh, and are also working with partners to develop projects for Pakefield, Southwold and Thorpeness.
The Government is committed to improving the quality of our bathing waters. Almost 90% of bathing waters in England met the highest standards of ‘Good' or ‘Excellent’ in 2023, up from just 76% in 2010 and despite the classification standards becoming stricter in 2015. Suffolk has 7 designated bathing waters; last season 5 were classified as ‘Excellent’, 1 was classified as ‘Good’ and 1 was classified as ‘Poor’. The Environment Agency assesses what action is needed to improve water quality to meet the standards set by the Bathing Water Regulations. Action plans are in place at all ‘Poor’ bathing waters, including the River Deben Estuary, Waldringfield in Suffolk. This includes investigations into pollution sources and visits to farms and water company assets.